The program is designed to bring top industry executives and leaders in insurance and financial services to campus to share their time and talents with students, faculty and area communities. These exchanges build bridges with industry partners and provide timely, cutting-edge education for our students.

2016 - 2017 - Kimberly O. Smith, J.D., CPCU

President and CEO of Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance Company

This year's Leader in Action is Kimberly O. Smith, J.D., CPCU, who has served in numerous leadership positions in the insurance, higher education, and not-for-profit industries.

Smith’s insurance career began in 1980 when she joined Indiana Insurance Company (now Liberty Mutual) in Indianapolis as a claims attorney. She went to Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance Company in 2000 as general counsel and vice president of human resources. She was elected executive vice president and general counsel in May 2012. Smith became President and CEO of Indiana Farmers in January 2014.

In addition to her service in the insurance industry, Smith is on the board of trustees of Indiana State University and is immediate past chair of the Indiana State University Foundation board of directors. Smith has served as a board member for the Insurance Institute of Indiana, the Indiana Guaranty Association, the Indiana Compensation Rating Bureau and the advisory board for the Indiana State University School of Business, Department of Insurance and Risk Management.

Smith holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Indiana University School of Law (cum laude) and a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana State University (magna cum laude). She also holds the Chartered Property and Casualty designation.

Frank Leon Roberts, educator and political organizer on the frontlines of the contemporary Black Lives Matters Movement, will give the keynote address at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Commemoration Dinner on Jan. 19.